The instant invention relates to apparatus comprising adhesive tape for securing a tracheal tube or the like to a patient. Various apparatus comprising adhesive tape are available for securing a tracheal tube or the like (such as an airway adjunct tube, an oropharyngeal tube, a nasogastric tube, a laryngeal tube or laryngeal mask airway) to a patient. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,676 discloses tape having a central non-adhesive portion extending around the back of the neck of the patient, the tape having bifurcated adhesive coated ends for wrapping around a tracheal tube and then attachment back to the tape to secure the tracheal tube to the patient. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,038,778 and 5,306,233 disclose tape having a central non-adhesive portion extending around the back of the neck of the patient, the tape having bifurcated adhesive coated ends for wrapping around a tracheal tube and attachment to the patient to secure the tracheal tube to the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,938 discloses tape having a central non-adhesive portion extending around the back of the neck of the patient, the tape having bifurcated adhesive coated ends for wrapping around a tracheal tube and attachment to the upper lip to secure the tracheal tube to the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,814 discloses tape attached to central non-adhesive strap extending around the back of the neck of the patient, the tape having a central adhesive coated X-shaped portion for wrapping around a tracheal tube to secure the tracheal tube to the patient.
Despite the advances made in the art of apparatus and methods for securing a tracheal tube or the like to a patient, such apparatus and methods have not supplanted the use of un-sterilized rolls of adhesive tape even though the use of such tape may provide a means for cross-contamination and infection. Therefore, there remains a need for apparatus and methods for securing a tracheal tube or the like to a patient that are easily used and which reduce the possibility for cross-contamination and infection.